1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement for the essentially uniform level placement of bulk material in an upright circular cylindrical vessel or tank. A throwing device for throwing the bulk material into the vessel is mounted at the top of the vessel. A feeding device is used for feeding the bulk material onto the throwing device. The throwing device is rotatably mounted about a vertical axis, the rate of rotation of the throwing means being controllable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Arrangements of the above-described type are known, for example, from German Offenlegungsschrift No. 27 03 329. These known arrangements have been found to be useful for filling relatively homogenous bulk material into vessels having an average diameter of about 3 m. However, as soon as the vessel diameter is greater than 3 m, the rate of rotation of the throwing device would be increased in order to change the parabolic trajectories of the bulk material in such a way that the entire diameter range of the vessel is covered by the bulk material. Of the circular ring disks used in these arrangements, the lowermost disks then no longer drop the bulk material in a parabolic path, but they throw the bulk material against the wall of the vessel, so that the bulk material fills up the vessel in the form of a heap which is downwardly inclined toward the center of the vessel. Thus, a uniform level placement of the bulk material in the vessel is no longer possible.
In addition, in the known arrangements, the long parabolic trajectories of the bulk material result in an undesirable separation of the bulk material. This is of a particular disadvantage if the vessel is a so-called aeration reactor for the controlled decomposition of organic wastes which include a uniform admixture of wood cuttings or sawdust as carbon carriers. Due to the separation and the non-uniform level of the bulk material over the cross-sectional area of the vessel, a uniform decomposition of the organic waste is no longer possible. As is well known, such a decomposition can only take place if the aeration reactor has been uniformly filled and the bulk material remains a uniform mixture during filling. Finally, an already partially filled aeration reactor must continue to be filled in a uniform manner because otherwise an uneven decomposition process would take place.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved arrangement of the aforementioned type for a uniform level placement of bulk material in a cylindrical vessel.
It is particularly an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for the uniform level placement of bulk material in an aeration reactor for the controlled decomposition of organic wastes by means of which it is possible in a simple and safe manner to fill containers having even relatively large diameters without causing a separation of the bulk material to be filled into the container.